D&D 5E Where are the PDFs?

[OpsKT]

I would be surprised if they do not eventually release the books as PDFs. When they pulled the PDFs back in 2009, I fully expected them to change their mind. We don't know what they have planned. I am just planning on being patient and see if they release them. I expect they will.

I hope so as well, but that will depend on what Hasbro will let them do. Hasbro is probably letting them post PDFs of older editions because it is out of print, it's income on non-production lines. 5e is still a production line, and Hasbro will want WotC to maximize profits.

Hopefully the criteria for getting legal 5e PDFs does not include, "No one pirates and everyone buys the first run." because our pirate friends have already ruined that.

 

[Morrus]

I hope so as well, but that will depend on what Hasbro will let them do.

Just for record, still not true.

Hasbro will want WotC to maximize profits.

This bit is true.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Ok, I'm still having a bit of trouble following the issue here, so, let me walk through how I understand things.

5. Dungeonscape goes bust and I can no longer download the program, nor will I be able to download new book files. But, since both Dungeonscape and the book files reside on my hard drive, I have them forever.

What am I missing?

But if you are unable to unlock those files, because the activation server is down (this happens a lot in PC games and programs) then your program is useless. You may be able to install it but you will be unable to get access to those files. If you can get access to those files then that opens the door to the entire program being 'pirate-able' i.e. back up your app and send it to a friend or a torrent.

It maybe that your username/password/Key will be locked into the files so you can always access them when you can install them without an activation server, which would be better. That can be easy on a PC but often not so easy on Android or, especially, Apple.

 

[billd91]

None of this is true. WotC makes these decisions, not Hasbro. And they currently sell craploads of stuff as PDF.

There are 2 things I have to say to the idea that WotC makes these decisions, not Hasbro:
1) Are we sure Hasbro has no input to or influence on these decisions?
2) Does WotC independence really matter when the leadership of WotC are Hasbro insiders who can probably be counted on to have a Hasbro-esque view of things?

 

[Torg Smith]

There are 2 things I have to say to the idea that WotC makes these decisions, not Hasbro:
1) Are we sure Hasbro has no input to or influence on these decisions?
2) Does WotC independence really matter when the leadership of WotC are Hasbro insiders who can probably be counted on to have a Hasbro-esque view of things?

I expect the executive staff at WotC make a tidy sum. With the size of Hasbro, I doubt they want to micromanage every division. If the executive staff at WotC does not perform, they will probably be replaced. No magic there.

I hope the leadership at WotC has a "Hasbro-esque view of things". Hasbro is a toy company so fun products are their desire. WOOT!!!!!!

Edit: Hasbro did the printing of the books, so they had complete control on the physical process of printing.

 

[fjw70]

I listened to a short interview with Mike Mearls on the Tome Show podcast yesterday and he addressed the PDF issue.


First, he said that they didn't want PDFs of competing with DungeonScape right off the bat and wanted to give Dd a chance to get off the ground.


Second, he said they isn't want people to feel cheated if they purchased a PDF and then realized they need to re-purchase the content to use in the DS tools.


Third, they want to make sure that PDFs are the right decision for this edition and would rather wait then put them out and then wish they hadn't.


It sounds like they are going to see how things go with DS and then check PDF demand at a later time. So maybe PDFs down the road.


Personally I am okay with these answers. I really want ebooks of the 5e materials. One of the reasons I am not playing the FFG Star Wars game is the lack of electronic support (yes I know, not their fault).


However, DS will give me electronic support for 5e pretty soon. There are some concerns about long term electronic support, but I will deal with that later.

 

[drjones]

The interview on the front page directly addresses this. Sounds like they don't think just putting out a PDF of the book would be desirable and DS and the free basic which you already have (For Free) is the way people can access that on devices.

This seems quite fine with me. In fact I could see a lot of my players only wanting subsets of the PHB that they will use. If they could get the races and classes section digitally formatted without the rest for a few bucks that would be better than paying full price for the whole book.

I think the fretting about proprietary formats is seriously overwrought. If I want to play 5e after the apocalypse when the internet died and Apple went bankrupt and the DS servers burst into flames I'll just use the paper book. If a digital tool not being available in a decade is the worst problem we will face then life is very good indeed.

 

[prosfilaes]

If I want to play 5e after the apocalypse when the internet died and Apple went bankrupt and the DS servers burst into flames I'll just use the paper book.

That's hyperbole. I see no reason to believe that DS will be here in ten years. Things sell well, but then the company comes out with the next version and support for the last one disappears and eventually the servers get turned off as they're pure cost sink. That's the way things work, no apocalypse needed.

I think the fretting about proprietary formats is seriously overwrought. ... If a digital tool not being available in a decade is the worst problem we will face then life is very good indeed.

You worry about what you want, and we'll worry about what we want. When I pay for a book, I want it to be there. Today, tomorrow, forever. With care, my PDFs, which are easy to backup off-site, should last every bit as long as my paper books. I want the RPG books I pay for to sit on my shelf by Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn and Masks of Nyarlathotep, waiting for the day that they will someday come of use for my game, or at least demand to be pulled off the shelf and be (re-?)read.

If these aren't your concerns--maybe you buy only what you're going to use in game and don't obsessively catalog your library (my tool of choice is LibraryThing)--then perhaps it shouldn't be a big concern for you. It is for us.

 

[Evenglare]

If these aren't your concerns--maybe you buy only what you're going to use in game and don't obsessively catalog your library (my tool of choice is LibraryThing)--then perhaps it shouldn't be a big concern for you. It is for us.

Thanks for the librarything. Gonna check that out when I get home.

 

[Paraxis]

I for one, and I believe one of many am sad at his response.

I want a pdf of the book, the real book, not some stripped down no art book.

I won't feel cheated if the content is in two places, if I want it in both I pay twice simple.

The free Basic rules are useless to me, as I don't run or play in games that are just Basic.

I think this is just corporate spin for no real reason, just sell us pdf's already.